Chloé Founder Gaby Aghion Passes Away at 93

Despite retiring in 1985, Aghion was a front row fixture at nearly every Chloé show.

Gaby Aghion, who founded French fashion house Chloé, died this morning at the age of 93, reports WWD.

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1921, she married her childhood sweetheart, Raymond, at 19, and the couple moved to Paris, where he opened an art gallery. Aghion created her first collection for Chloé (named after close friend Chloé Huymans) in 1952, and showed the label's first runway collection with business partner Jacques Lenoir at Café de Flore four years later.

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Aghion's desire to create modern, effortless clothing in place of haute couture made her brand one of the most eminent of the post-war period, along with Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior. Aghion also had a knack for recognizing talent, employing Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo at the label through the years.

Though she retired in 1985, Aghion sat front row at nearly every Chloé runway show. Ralph Toledano, Chloé chairman and CEO from 1999 to 2010, remembers, "She was very demanding, but also so generous in everything she did. When there was a show she didn't like, I had her on the phone," he told WWD. "She had a passion for the brand. Even at 85, she was the best critic."